The Red Slash
by paracuties
Summary: In a life where a small boy has already experienced possibly all the harsh cruelties of the world, things take a different turn. For the better, that is. Drafted into ANBU at a young age, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto is not your typical genin. AU ANBU!Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**Meh. I don't like this beginning chapter. It's just an introduction, though. I know it's a really over-used idea, but I've had this sitting in my flashdrive for a while so I wanted to post it. **

…

A boy no older than twelve burst through the trees at an amazing speed, racing back to the ANBU Headquarters to report and quickly get to school. It was around 2 am, but he'd have to get at least a bit of sleep before school started at 7. Silently, he pressed his hand to the seal, pushed in a bit of his chakra, and when it was recognized, watched the door silently swing open to let him in. The ANBU raced inside, his black clothes allowing him to become almost invisible in the shadowed hallways except for the telltale glint of his katana strapped perpendicularly to the standard wakizashi on his back, the hilt lifted just a centimeter because of his hurry. His katana was two feet long and specifically created for him after he had shown a tendency for kenjutsu as well, having already specialized in ninjutsu and taijutsu. ANBU needed their own specific weapons in order to complete their A-ranked or S-ranked or possibly even higher ranking mission as easily as possible, and the boy was no different.

He knocked quietly, handed in his report and the body of the enemy he had recently assassinated sealed inside a scroll to the Hokage, was dismissed, and proceeded to hurry back to his small apartment. The few hours of sleep he caught passed quickly, and suddenly it was 6:45 am before he could even blink.

"Shoot!" He cursed a few more choice words, some a variation of the first word and others not, struggling to pull on the orange jumpsuit over his ANBU outfit he had fallen asleep in. After going through a quick morning routine, one which sadly did not consist of a shower, the boy checked his tattoo was covered before grabbing a bowl of ramen from Ichiraku's and hurrying to school. He ate it along the way, moving along slowly, trying to enjoy the new beef miso soup, sprinkled with more onions and some other unidentifiable—at least to him—vegetable, but it was good, so he just slurped it down with the rest. At least it didn't smell like any known poisonous plant.

Once at school, he hurried into his classroom, almost 20 minutes late, called out an, "Iruka-sensei, I'm here!" before quickly claiming his seat in the back row. The class snickered, except for some who were too lazy to and some who were too "cool" to. Yes, he could've set an internal alarm clock to get up on time, and yes, he could've gobbled up his meal in five minutes (there were times on ANBU missions he had to eat in less time than even that), but he didn't want to. Besides, Iruka-sensei was pretty lenient with him.

"Naruto! Stay after school again, today! When will you ever learn your lesson?"

Or maybe not so lenient this time. "Yes, Iruka-sensei," he sighed.

Today was a history lesson, and since he already knew all the Academy would teach and more, there was no need to pay attention. Well, really, there was no need to pay attention to anything at any time at all, since anything they taught, he had already learned in ANBU. But he liked to give respect to the brown-haired chuunin, who cared for him like an older brother or even…a father. It felt nice to be cared for in that way.

Iruka-sensei started explaining the progression of the Daimyo of Konoha over the years, until to the current Daimyo, who was doing something or other for Konohagakure, Leaf Village. Naruto did try to pay attention, really, but found his eyes drawn to his charge. The mission assigned to him years ago. He hadn't been a fully-fledged ANBU then, as no six year old could ever, no matter how much of a prodigy or hard worker or both, be able to get that far, but as he continued through the Academy, maintaining a cheerful, dumb cover, he had advanced to be captain of a team, better than anyone could be at killing. It was a sad thought.

He laughed.

"Uzumaki! Would you like to explain what you're finding so funny about the Fourth Hokage, the Yondaime?"

Ah, so they had moved from Daimyos to Hokages. Well. He cleared his throat.

"Well…I just thought, what if the Fourth Hokage wasn't actually that nice-looking? And he was just a smelly, old man underneath a henge, like the old man?"

Heh. Pretending he thought that of his own father felt strange.

Iruka knew, with the "old man" comment, he was referring to their current Hokage, the Sandaime.

"Don't be so rude!" Iruka chucked a chalkboard eraser at Naruto for good measure. Naruto ducked.

"Another hour added to the hour after school!"

He groaned internally. He wouldn't be able to get dinner then, because he'd have to report to the ANBU Headquarters by 5:30 pm. School ended at 3:30 pm. He cringed. He'd definitely be late.

"Aww, come on, Ir—"

"Do you want me to add on more time?"

Naruto gulped. He shook his head, and the rest of the day passed by uneventfully.

After staying for the allotted time and receiving a good 'ol lecture from Iruka-sensei, the blond raced out, shedding his orange suit and tossing it in his apartment before grabbing his fox mask and running at full speed towards Headquarters.

Ha. Him, being the container for the demon fox, Kyuubi no Kitsune, was called Kitsune, or Fox, as his code name. His moniker, known throughout the village as one of the most feared shinobi, was the Red Slash. Yes, how ironic. Again. Considering the fact that he contained a demon, which tended to be imagined as a _red _made-of-lava, evil being, and his chakra affinity was wind—wind "slashed" at you, right…? Okay, so maybe that was pushing it. In all reality, the moniker meant if you saw the Red Slash as your enemy, you were as good as dead—the last thing you'd see would be a red slash. Hm. That didn't make sense. How would his moniker have come about if all his opponents were dead? Except for a certain few…

But anyway, he arrived ten minutes late, with the backpack containing all the scrolls he always sealed everything in slung over his shoulder. At least he wasn't as late as Hatake Kakashi, one of his team members that he was the leader of, was. Kakashi had been leading a life of depression, self-wrecking, and guilt for as long as he could remember. But when he had befriended him when he was seven, the ANBU had recovered a little, and had personally requested to be on his team after quitting the role of an ANBU team captain when Naruto, or Kitsune, was skilled enough to be lead an entire team of ANBU.

Fortunately, nobody in ANBU knew who Kitsune was except for the ANBU commander. He had been the one to recruit him and help him, but that was a different story for another time.

"Kitsune…you're late." The woman who always handed out the missions frowned at him, although she couldn't see the young ANBU member's face.

He bowed slightly. "I am sorry, Amaya-san. I will be more punctual next time."

"Of course you will; I won't report you."

He sighed in relief. That would save him from a lot of trouble from explaining why he had misbehaved in class to the point of earning detention. Ridiculous, for a skilled, professional ANBU member. At that time, Kakashi chose to arrive, his shock of silver, gravity-defying hair brushing the top of the doorframe as he entered.

"You're late, Kakashi-san," Naruto told him, although it was kind of pointless.

"Maa, only a little, senpai," Kakashi murmured, seeming to smile. Amaya rolled her eyes.

"Here, Kitsune, your mission will last three days, at the most. You need to capture maybe four of twelve Kiri-nin attacking one of Fire Country's villages. They're Jounin, or high Chuunin. I'm sure you all can handle it."

They nodded, and with just a faint breeze, were gone, already heading towards the city indicated in their mission details.

…

"Inu, get One, I'll get Five—they seem to be combining their chakra affinities, although I know one of them is wind."

"Got it."

"Watch it, Neko!" Kitsune jumped forward and slashed at a man behind the ANBU member Neko, as she fought three opponents at once. She turned, her porcelain mask portraying the slight resemblance of a cat.

His slash decapitated the man, and the grown shinobi howled, clutching his bleeding chest, large amounts of blood spilling out every frantic beat his heart made. Naruto slammed the handle of his wakizashi onto the enemy's head, hard, then healed a bit of the man's injury, his hands glowing green before hauling him to Hikigaeru, the woman with the toad-like mask in charge of keeping their prisoners imprisoned and not too damaged.

Inu was still facing down One and Five, although judging by the red liquid seeping out of One's clothing and the red spatters in Inu's silver hair, he had gotten a good hit on at least one of his opponents. Kitsune jumped in, and used the wind against the man with wind affinity, as he had better control. People who used their chakra affinity often were obviously more talented, but they weren't ANBU for nothing. Kitsune was even _better_ than them at using his wind-type ninjutsu in battles. His katana came in contact with the wind Five was using to counter him, but he smirked and cut through that too, after wrapping the blade in wind. The men's screams were cut short as Kitsune hit them as well over the head. He stood up, surveying the damage.

"Good job, team, not too much damage to the surroundings and too little evidence for anybody to assume a battle took place, although Neko, seriously, remember to watch your back. Haven't I told you that already?"

Cat shrugged sheepishly. "Well, Kitsune-senpai, I know you'll always catch them before they get to me…"

"That's no excuse! And besides, it's not a guarantee."

Cat bowed slightly. "I'm sorry. I'll train that aspect more often."

Kitsune nodded. Then, he turned to Hikigaeru, silently asking her if their prisoners were stabilized enough so that they wouldn't die on the way back—after all, their mission was to capture, not kill. She nodded, and they bent down next to the four of them, the other eight destroyed with quick fire jutsus, placed in a single neat row. Neko, Boar, Inu, and Hikigaeru all reached into the unconscious men's pouches, but Boar suddenly halted.

"Stop! They have a sensor!"

Too late. Blindingly bright flashes of light immediately exploded in front of them, stinging their eyes and blowing up all their unconscious enemies, but unfortunately also extending the damage to them as well. They had all sensed it, instincts warning of an unknown danger seconds before the explosion had thrown them like rag dolls and propelled them into the branches of trees, sharp pieces of metal also exploding outward and embedding themselves into the ANBUs' skin. The two women, Neko and Hikigaeru, went immediately unconscious as they hit their heads on the trees, unable to react quickly enough, along with Boar—that bomb had to have been blown out with the force of at least 200 mph—and only Inu and Kitsune had been lucky enough to have been thrown higher in the air and have those few extra precious seconds to catch themselves.

They plunged into the branches of the surrounding trees, but at least on their feet, and hurried themselves to the terrible scene. Bits of human bodies were scattered everywhere, charred pieces lying around and the air immediately stinking of burning human flesh. That was not the horrifying part, though. It was normal enough. No, it was their teammates that caused them to widen their eyes and rush forward, blindly feeling for a heartbeat. Kitsune pressed on Neko's neck gently, his two fingers leaving a trail of someone's blood on her neck, straining to feel for even a slight pulse, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding when it was found. It was irregular though, so they had to be careful.

Inu was relieved when he found it on Hikigaeru and Boar, too, although theirs were stronger than Neko's. Neko had always been a little too reckless. He turned to his unit commander, the boy's black hair stained with rusty blood and clear gray eyes squeezed tight. It wasn't right for a child to have to do this, and commit these heinous acts of silent killers—something grown men often broke down over, but Kitsune refused to listen. No matter how much he tried to convince the young ANBU to quit, he stubbornly refused to "stop doing his duty", and said that it was for the better. He shook himself from his musings, carefully slinging two of his unconscious teammates both over his back, taking care not to jostle their wounds or worsen any of them, and adjusted them until they were both kind of half hanging on, half hanging off, side by side on his back. At least the two were both pretty lean people.

Kitsune stood too, doing the same, minus one teammate slumped on his small back, and they moved quickly and evenly, the older ANBU stumbling every now and then, his wounds not healing as fast as the boy's. But he had endured worse, so he would be fine. They landed in a clearing, where Kitsune stopped, and said, "Come on, Inu, hand me Boar. You're killing yourself."

"You're…you…you're also…exhaus—"

His voice cut off as he fell over, too much blood loss having caused him to faint. They had not had enough supplies to bandage Kakashi's wounds too, but he had shrugged it off, saying he was fine and that his wounds would not slow them down. What a liar. Kitsune shook his head, and focused what little chakra he hadn't used up to speed up his healing and heal up his would-have-been lethal wounds, then pressed scarred, rough hands on Kakashi's leg and back, applying green chakra on the worst wounds. When he was finished, the small ANBU pondered how he'd transport them, knowing he couldn't seal them into his scrolls he had made to be able to seal in human beings, or other living things, as it would cause a little strain on their bodies. He really didn't think they could handle anymore. But he could use the wind. Kitsune manipulated the wind to carry the three, maneuvered them behind him so that they would always follow his path and not collide with any branches or other objects before taking off again, letting the wind take care of them.

...

Seven hours passed, with multiple breaks inserted here and there when he felt he was going to faint. It had taken them five hours to get from Leaf Village to their destination, but he knew they still had about a quarter of the way to go. Boar had woken up, but then fallen asleep after Naruto had forced some water down his throat. The women hadn't, and Kakashi hadn't either. They were still in danger, and Kitsune couldn't stop now. His chakra had replenished a tiny bit, so he picked them up again, and sped off.

…

The two guards rushed over to the five of them, taking two people at a time off of the wind. Naruto dropped to the ground, exhausted, unable to maintain his henge any longer—of course he hadn't kept it up while carrying his team through the forest; that would have been stupid—but he couldn't let the guards know he was Uzumaki Naruto, the stupid little boy still enrolled in the Academy. They would blabber it away to anyone and everyone, and his long-standing mission would end as a failure. No. Fortunately, during that small lapse, they had been tending to the other shinobi's wounds, and only afterwards, five minutes later, had glanced over to the blond-turned-back-to-black-haired boy, eyes still tight with worry. They were relieved to see him stand up and walk over as if he was not tired at all, and when the Red Slash instructed them to bring his soldiers to the hospital, they complied immediately. That left Naruto standing at the gates alone, and he sat down at one of the posts, keeping a lazy eye out for any intruders—after all, it couldn't do to have anyone infiltrate the village, no matter how little time it took for the original guards to get back—and rested, waiting.

Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu came back eight minutes later, only to see the small boy still standing—or in his case, sitting—guard, waiting for their return. He sensed the two beings, and turned around, gave a lazy wave and smiled, although they couldn't see that behind his black mask wrapped around his nose and mouth, and walked back to his apartment. His henge disappeared as he rounded the corner, and he walked back home, his blue eyes drooping as he stumbled into bed. He didn't even bother to check for the usual drunks that liked to beat up the "helpless" little Naruto.

…

**Weird end, but like my other story, it's also 'cause I have all of it written in one big word doc and I wasn't sure where to put chapter breaks. I should've done that originally…**

**Anyway. Thanks for reading! No flames please.**

**~paracuties**


	2. Chapter 2

**So...I know, it took me a while to update. I realized I forgot to put the disclaimer last chapter, so:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Do I look like I'm Japanese?**

**Some dude: Yeah.**

**Me: Excuse me? I am **_**Chinese, **_**thank you very much. **

**Same dude: Same difference. **

**Racist!**

**Anyway. I have no clue why I just put that in there...but back to the point. I am very, very disappointed in all of you. I have 29 followers and 16 favorites, which I am seriously, really seriously happy about, but—**

**Three reviews. ...Three. My very first fanfiction's first chapter had more than that. Albeit, only by one, but I'd think I have greater writing skill compared to then, which should warrant more reviews...? Whatever. Anyway, I am sincerely hoping more of you will review. And thank you, JustFabulous, suicune4ever, and Narutoswife03281997! Congratulations, you are the first three to have given me motivation to continue posting! **

**suicune4ever: In most actions, he will; he'll be that noble guy that worries about friends and always tries to save them, but this is an AU. Fanfiction's existence—although most fanfiction writers do not seem to know this—is to reveal something new about a character. "If Naruto had...*some difference universe, some different action, etc.*, what would have happened?"**

**In my case I'm putting him in the ANBU universe. In the ANBU universe, what would have happened to him? Well, this fic is the result of that.**

**Enjoy! (Congrats, by the way, to whoever read through my huge A/N.)**

…

Kitsune's internal alarm clock jerked him awake, and he realized he had fallen asleep in his ANBU gear. Again. He stripped off his bloody and ripped clothing, took a quick shower, and put on another pair of his ANBU clothing, taking a look at the clock, which read 4:23 am. Wait…crap, last night he'd forgotten to report! Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he pulled on his black, cloth mask, grabbed his broken ANBU mask, and _shunshined _to the Hokage's office, intent on delivering his report he had written on the way there. It was a sloppy, messy report, but it was there, and he placed it on his commander's desk, waiting to be allowed to explain a couple of things. His commander read through the illegible handwriting, before looking at the ANBU and nodding, a signal for him to speak.

"I'm sorry. Our mission failed. We were careless to underestimate them, or at least their equipment, and reached into their pouches without thinking to check for any dangers. Every single one of their pouches, or at least the ones we reached into, reacted to the foreign chakra and immediately sent a signal to their special bombs that would blow shrapnel everywhere, along with sending anything nearby into speeds of at least 200 miles per hour.

"I presume that they had already planned to die instead of reveal what they were doing in the case that they were captured, and we were unable to retrieve their bodies, while also sustaining injuries to ourselves."

His commander nodded, crumpling up the report and tossing it into the waste basket at the far end of the room. It landed directly into the center of it.

"Your report is junk, Kitsune. I couldn't read a single thing. But thank you for remembering to give a verbal report, at least, and I will give your team two weeks off to heal. Your Academy teacher has already been notified you will be gone for another day; today. But if you're up for it, you can still go."

Kitsune nodded. "Yes, I will go today, and take care of Mizuki before he goes and causes trouble. I have already found his notes inside the briefcase he carries around everywhere he goes, where he planned out what he would have been doing on this self-employed mission. Lucky me, for him to do such a thing. I took them, and left a copy I forged in his briefcase, making sure he would not detect any remnants of my chakra on the paper. I made sure the lettering was the exact same."

Kitsune handed the notes to his commander, and the Hokage briefly looked over them, eyes sharp. They needed the evidence for this mission to take place; they would be killing Mizuki tonight, after they forced him to confess.

…

"Hey, Iruka-sensei! What're we doing today?" Naruto shouted, glancing around the room and noticing that he was actually early, considering only Sasuke and Shino were there with their teacher. Well, he hadn't been able to fall asleep after waking up at 4-something a.m., the near-deaths of his teammates still fresh in his mind.

"Naruto?" Iruka looked tremendously surprised, and slightly relieved, because he had been wondering why Naruto was yet again, told by the ANBU guarding him, that he was sick. It had already been two days, and Naruto was just not one to get sick. Even during the winter when almost everyone was home with a fever, Naruto would sit in class smiling brightly, without even a slight sniffle. And he was an orphan, to put it bluntly. Parents wouldn't be there to take care of him; no one was there making sure he was sleeping and eating healthily. Yet he appeared fine anyway, every single day, so he knew something was wrong. Fortunately, today he had shown up again, looking perfectly fine as usual…except for the fact that there were those telltale signs of tiredness. The shadows and bags under his eyes proved that, and his smile was just slightly off. And then Iruka shook his head. There was no way that Naruto would have to stay up so late to get that tired; he must've been looking too hard and trying to dig up clues so hard he was imagining things.

He looked up again from his paperwork to see Naruto bothering Sasuke, who sat there stonily and only after being poked by the blond multiple times did he try and take a swing at Naruto. Naruto flipped back sloppily, landing on the desk in front of Shino, who stood up and moved away from the oncoming fight.

"Boys, don't fight inside the room, we'll have plenty of that later," Iruka warned.

Naruto laughed, settling into his seat in the back row. So they were sparring today, then, judging on what Iruka had said. Sasuke sat back down with a _humph_, his nose turning upwards slightly. Naruto smirked. He'd have to provoke his charge a couple more times in order to gain some sort of relationship between them, even if it was just a mere rivalry. A rivalry was better than nothing, and rivalries tended to become slightly violent friendships, as long as they weren't rivalries between people of different countries. That was different. That was…more on the serious side.

More and more students filed in after that, the typical cat-fight breaking out between Sakura and Ino of who would sit next to Sasuke—personally, he thought they were all just a bunch of pathetic excuses imagining the job of kunoichi filled with romance and whatever they thought—until Iruka broke them up and had Shikamaru sit next to him. Heh. Shikamaru was a genius, really, based on what he had gleaned from his random bouts of sudden intelligence. But he was terribly lazy, too, and that was the only reason he was one of the students at the bottom of the class. Otherwise, he could probably top even Sasuke and Sakura in academics, while also having the ability to out-maneuver any of them out on the field.

As the rest of the students filed in, Iruka-sensei announced they'd be participating in a class tournament today, after reviewing the basic katas, jutsu, and weapon-usage techniques they could utilize during their fight. They stretched outside, the green, green grass leaving stains on their clothes, which resulted in most of the girls complaining about the terrible grass stains that would most likely not come out. The boys snickered at the girls' plight, which then resulted in the girls pounding them into the ground. Naruto snickered at that.

While they had been stretching, Iruka-sensei had been going over the rules, and had stopped to separate the small arguments going on. He then continued with the rules that he always repeated before a tournament, and Naruto tuned him out, rather preferring to study his classmates. The girls, as usual, appeared nervous, especially Hyuuga Hinata, although Sakura and Ino were arguing again about who would beat whom in a match against each other. He could see the tension lined in their shoulders, though, afraid they'd go up against a strong opponent.

Iruka-sensei finished, and then called out who would go against whom, and first up just happened to be Sakura and Ino. They started clawing at each other after throwing a couple of weak punches and kicks, although at least the Yamanaka seemed to have a certain rhythm and look to her stance as she stepped forward and swung her foot into the pinky's stomach. The girl collapsed, wheezing, and Iruka called the match for Ino as winner.

…

The rest of the matches went fairly quickly, with me going against Shikamaru and him forfeiting the match after it extended longer than five minutes. Then, I was paired with Sasuke, and I rolled my eyes inwardly. I'd have to act more tired and slow, about one-twelfth of my true skill, just so the rookie would beat the dead-last, as expected.

In the middle of the match, as I purposefully punched too slowly and too far off to the left to allow Sasuke grab my arm and fling me to the ground, I felt my ANBU tattoo start burning, grabbing my attention. My eyes widened, and I held both hands up, surrendering, then whined to Iruka that I needed to go the bathroom _real badly, _and zipped off in that direction, before performing a quick _shunshin_ to the ANBU Headquarters out of sight of the class. In the blink of an eye, many ANBU appeared in front of the main entrance, and we filed in, waiting for the bad news from our ANBU commander. Although we technically directly served the Hokage, there was still an ANBU Commander like there was a Jounin Commander, to oversee us and make sure we were staying in line. The Hokage couldn't do everything. I stood off the side of the meeting room, afraid…of something. I had a slight premonition something was about to happen. Something bad.

My team was missing from the room, of course, and quite a couple of others too, seeing as they were the ones that patrolled or kept guard in the village, and couldn't suddenly leave it unpatrolled because of urgent news. The news would be relayed to them one way or another. Although, now that I noticed, it wasn't because of that. All of the ANBU currently present were ANBU captains.

We waited silently, as we were all trained to obey our superiors without question, and our commander opened his mouth to begin. And suddenly fell over. Literally, just flopped over and…what? The couple people closest were immediately hoisting him up, checking for a pulse, if he was breathing, any signs of life…

"He's dead," one announced gravely. The rest stood up in agreement, and we all stared at the body, completely lost at to what we were supposed to do. Why had we been summoned? Had he been somehow alerted to the fact that he was going to die in a few moments, and tried to call for our help? I stepped forward.

"First things first. We need to tell the Hokage."

"Um…Kitsune? Why are you wearing that?"

I looked down. I was still wearing the ridiculous orange jumpsuit. Crap. At least I had remembered to put up my usual henge for my face and mask the fox's chakra, though. It had become so much of a regular routine that I didn't even notice doing the action anymore.

"Uh…just a disguise. But that doesn't matter right now. Do you want me to seal the body into a scroll?"

They contemplated it for a little bit, but someone called out, "No, because that could mess with the remnants of any chakra left on him, which could end up being some form of clue."

I nodded. "Well then, we should disguise him…"

I thought for a little bit. Then, I put a henge on him, his hair growing out longer and fading from brown to blond, his 6' height turning into 5'8". His clothing flickered into civilian clothing, and a couple red slashes appeared on his chest to seem as if he'd died from wounds on his chest. No one would get suspicious, that way, if anyone saw the ANBU escorting a dead body to the Hokage's office. I examined it for flaws. None. The rest mostly nodded, a couple of them went with me for the visit to the Sandaime, and the people leftover went to work looking around in his office.

One of them, Hedgehog, carried the body, and the rest of us circled around him while moving as fast as we could along the top of the buildings. A couple other jounin or chuunin had to skirt around us, staring at the body as we whipped by. I was glad I had put up the henge. We entered through the window, surprising the Hokage when he realized we were escorting a dead body. I dropped the henge, surprising the Hokage even further, and he stood up, running around the desk and crouching down to study our dead commander. He sighed, ran a hand over his usually-jovial-now-turned-weary face, and stood up again, looking at all of us and waiting for an explanation. I quickly summarized the whole event, and asked him in a blank voice, "What would you like us to do, Hokage-sama?"

"Who was the one who first took control of the situation?"

The question threw us off, and there was a pause as we digested the inquiry. I stepped forward.

"I did."

Nobody objected, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Really."

We waited.

"Well, then how would you like to be commander of the ANBU?"

Dead silence reigned over the entire room. Trained as we were to respond immediately and effectively to any kind of situation whatsoever, we couldn't help but be stunned. Me especially, seeing as how I was the person in question. I, a little 12 year old, although an immensely strong shinobi, being the commander of all the ANBU…wasn't that a little too much? No matter how much, as Naruto, I wanted to reach Hokage—I did, but I had to think logically—almost none of the ANBU would accept this easily. The others, as I had predicted, did not seem very happy about this situation either, but the Hokage interrupted our confused or angry thoughts.

"I cannot allow Danzo to try and take over all the ANBU and incorporate you all into his Root. The ANBU are upgraded to the position of captain for a reason—one, being that they have the skill and other requirements for it, and two, that I trust them completely. I trust every single one of you, as you must know, but if Danzo got to you, I couldn't allow the ANBU to be assigned so many missions and other important events with such freedom and independence of the Hokage. So I asked who had first gone forward and been the leader, and it ends up…being Kitsune."

We nodded. It made sense, yet I wasn't sure I would be able to gain all the respect of them, what with being a 12 year old.

The Sandaime cleared his throat.

"I will inform the rest of the ANBU; we will all meet in the ANBU Headquarters. This needs to be made clear that you, Kitsune, are the new commander. I'm assuming you accept the position."

He turned away, dismissing us, and we returned to the Headquarters, where the rest of the ANBU captains were still investigating the crime scene. I mulled over the new situation. I was ANBU commander. _ANBU commander. _That was the highest position, right behind Hokage—would I be able to perform every single little duty with as much as precision as I did now? What if I didn't want the job…? Yes, it was high-ranking, high-paying, and demanded much respect. It was also something assigned to me from the Hokage, and I was sworn to obey my Hokage without question. I would have to take the job, whether it was aligned with my personal preference or not.

When they noticed our return, they stopped, and a moment later all the ANBU in the village appeared. There were, total, about fifteen ANBU captains, and most ANBU teams consisted of five people; meaning, there were 73 people in the room. One of the teams had been led by the previous commander, and since he was gone, that was one less; another team had always had only four people. Of course, there were many more ANBU members than that, the groups dividing into sub-captains and sub-people or whatever, random ANBU grouping together at times to form random groups. They were out on the field currently, or if they weren't, were only random ANBU that were too low-level to be of much importance. And if they obeyed their other superiors, then they'd have to obey the next-to-highest-superior. Me.

The couple newbies that happened to test high enough and gain a high-enough rank whispered among each other until their captain snapped at them and the room immediately quieted. The air weighed with something strange, and a heavy silence fell over the room. Once that happened, the Hokage appeared in a quiet swirl of leaves.

"Everyone," he said gravely, "I have come to deliver bad news. Your ANBU commander was murdered."

It seemed like he was not one to be direct…

He held up a hand impatiently to keep us from exploding in shouts.

"Your captains were called, apparently, and when they arrived, he suddenly fainted, or something of the sort, and passed away.

"So I, when I heard the news, appointed the new commander immediately, based on previous considerations as well as who had first taken care of the situation. I know you all will want say it is probably rash and try to tell me I haven't thought through it properly just yet, but until otherwise, you are to give him your utmost respect."

The Hokage motioned at me, and I walked forward to the front of the room, feeling slightly nervous. I hadn't felt nervous at all in…three, four years? Until now, of course. Huh.

As everybody realized I, the 12-year-old Red Slash, was to be our commander, they seemed to stiffen. Glares were directed at me, and I could tell because we had taken off our masks in respect of the Sandaime. Mine was broken of course, so I had not needed to take it off in the first place, but I needed another one—the fourth replacement in a month—but otherwise…wait. Why was everybody looking at me so expectantly? Was I supposed to deliver a speech or something? I looked over to the Sandaime, but he was already gone. Whoa. Had I seriously been that wrapped up in my own thoughts?

I strolled over to the commander's desk—no, it was my desk now—and then turned to them.

"The couple of you involved in Torture and Investigations—I'm pretty sure you know what to do. Find what happened to our old commander. We can't have a murderer running loose around here. The ones on guard duty—I believe it is time to switch out; report to Amaya-san for your missions, or if you would like to request leave for a period of time, please come to me afterwards and I will look through your files briefly and check that you are eligible. And of course, the rest of you, return to your patrols, or whatever else you were doing, and watch out for any suspicious character. Make sure the Sandaime isn't harmed."

There was an odd, tight sensation within my chest, and a strange burning behind my eyes. I realized I cared for my commander. He had saved me, all those years back. True, it was probably more for his own benefits than caring for a poor orphaned boy, but he had been, at the time, the only person to not see me as some demon or monster other than "Jiji," the Hokage.

…

"_Get him! Don't let him escape!" the man I had tried to pickpocket hollered, anxiously waiting for the ANBU to capture the evil little demon. Me. However, I was starving and exhausted and shaking with thirst, so the only way to survive was to steal. Or scavenge in the trash, but I hated doing that. It made me feel lowered, feel like a disgusting little rat, pushed around by all the towering, looming humans._

_Pumping my legs as hard as I could, I started to become hopeful, knowing that my hideout was just a couple of yards away. I skidded around the corner, the rain causing me to slip and slide a bit before catching myself, heart pounding and breath coming out in gasps, and it just so happened that the ANBU commander was standing there, dark and imposing. _

_Before I could even so much as blink, he had already roughly gripped my wrists and wrestled the stolen wallet away. I cried out, but I couldn't get it back now. The only way to get out of here was to run. I wrenched my wrists away by some miracle, removed the sewer top, the rough sides of the hole scratching my arms as I dropped down, splashing into the dirty water below. And then I rigged the trap, and ran. I shot down the dank tunnel, peering back behind my shoulder multiple times and imagining the ANBU catching up, ready with handcuffs. That was the only thing keeping me from stopping. By the time I reached the place only I visited, as far as I knew, I was exhausted, and hungrier than ever. Being a homeless orphan sucked, especially when that was all I had ever known since I had memory. _

_Which was probably around two years ago, when I was three years old. I wasn't sure if I had parents; if I did, I didn't remember them. Did they die? Did they abandon me? That thought hurt, but it had already been dulled to the point of just a minor twinge, seeing as how I had obsessed over it for so long already. I could care less right now anyway, given my current situation. _

_After peeking through the cracks, the rain draining into the sewer I was trying to get a good look of my surroundings through and occasionally dripping into my eyes, which didn't feel too great, I was positive there wasn't anyone around. I didn't know just how strong and powerful ninja could be at that age; it was quite a mistake on my end. I crawled out cautiously, shivering and soaked to the bone, and darted under the slight cover of trees. It wasn't much, but it'd be better than standing out in the open. I wrung out my tattered clothing, standing there in a pair of just as threadbare boxers, and after putting them back on, rolled around in the dirt to feel warmer. It kind of dried me off, at least. Piles and piles of leaves were gathered, and I collected them around a certain spot at the base of a tree before snuggling in and wishing to just go to sleep. The leaves tickled, and I sneezed, blowing a bunch away. Ugh. I was too cold and weak to go get them though, and squeezing my bony, goose-bumped arms, drifted off to sleep, dreaming of an ANBU mask, the mask I recognized as the commander's mask, staring at me right in the face. _

…_Wait. I screamed, the shrill sound causing him to jerk back, and darted off again, adrenaline pumping through my veins once again and making me forget the cold temporarily. There was only wild, burning fear. I stumbled, once, twice, and then tripped over a particularly large rock, root, whatever it was—it didn't matter, and lay sprawled on the forest floor, too tired and dizzy to move any further. I had a runny nose, stinging scratches almost immediately healing were crisscrossed on my arms, and I was completely frustrated with my inability to acquire some food. The ANBU crouched in front of me, and I felt ashamed that he was looking at me in those clean, ninja clothing, with shiny new armguards and other equipment strapped onto him, while I was just this scrawny, starving little kid with nothing to call his own but the frayed, scummy pieces of clothing on his back. I refused to cry though, unwilling to humiliate myself any further, and then he suddenly, without warning, yanked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I wiggled around feebly, but it was impossible to get away in my condition, so I just gave in to the exhaustion, hunger, and residue fear, falling asleep draped over his shoulder. _

…

_The ANBU commander was a little nervous for the boy. He had brought him into the Hokage's office, and the Hokage had suddenly lurched up out of his chair and was holding the boy gently and tenderly in a flash, placing him on a couch and removing the dirty clothes (if they could even be called clothes), then drying him with a blanket and draping another one over him. He had stared at the boy's face so regretfully, eyes filled with sorrow as he examined the sharp contours of the young child, the hollow cheeks and emaciated figure indicating the boy lived a harsh life. Only then did he look up at the ANBU commander and thank him, eyes shining with true gratitude. The ANBU commander had bowed, telling him there was no need to thank him, and then proceeded to give the details of why Naruto was currently in the Hokage's office. _

"_I've been searching for him for so long…and only now he decided to pick the pocket of someone outside of the red light district? No wonder I couldn't find him; the people of the red light district don't like us snooping. Poor child…he's been living all alone by himself in that kind of place…," the Sandaime seemed to be murmuring to himself more than to the ANBU commander now, but then seemed to gather his thoughts and straighten up, staring at him in the eye._

"_You brought him here for a reason. What do you plan on doing with him now?"_

_The question made him hesitate. He didn't want to just come out and say that the boy was pretty clever and he wanted to recruit young kids to train them as killing machines, because he really wasn't that terrible of a man. Unfortunately, that was part of the reason—not to train him as a killing machine necessarily, an emotionless shinobi was just torture to the individual even if they didn't realize it, but to train him as an ANBU. He did care for the boy however, and voiced all of that aloud to the man known as Sarutobi-sama. _

_They both stood there in silence, listening to the rain beating in torrents on the window, while studying the still-asleep boy. _

"_I suppose there is no better option," the Hokage said reluctantly. The ANBU nodded. The deal was sealed, and Naruto would lead the life of a shinobi from then on, training hard every waking hour for the next couple of years and advancing swiftly, his growing mind able to accept the new concepts quickly and easily. _

…

I continued watching the very competent shinobi and kunoichi, all of the ANBU, start on their given tasks, then left, appearing just a couple feet away from the academy entrance on a well-hidden tree branch, and waiting for a good time to slip in. Good thing I was still wearing the orange jumpsuit, after all. It would have been way too bothersome to change in and out of it. Iruka and Mizuki had long already led the students into the classroom, having given up waiting for me. I had the feeling I'd be in for a long lecture once I got back. Sighing, I jumped down, walked inside casually, and peeked inside the classroom door, purposely allowing Iruka to sense my chakra signature and notice me there. He talked to Mizuki, and Mizuki started up where Iruka left off, while he stalked towards the door, a pissed off expression on his face. I waited out in the hallway, leaning casually against the wall, when the door opened, closed, and Iruka stood there, waiting for an explanation.

"Ah, hi, Sensei," I said cheerfully, and he scowled.

"Naruto. _What took you practically an hour to go to the bathroom?_"

I grinned sheepishly. "Umm…indigestion?"

He looked grossed out. "I don't think so, Naruto. That's a lie, and you know it. Now tell me the truth."

"Aww, come on Sensei, I was annoyed at Sasuke, so I sat in a tree for a while, and I guess I fell asleep or something, because then I fell out of the tree…"

"_You fell out of a tree?!_ What were you thinking, sleeping in a tree?!"

I shrugged. He ranted for a couple moments, and I waited, until he finally sighed and rubbed his nose.

"Naruto…I hope you're not going to do this again. You've been gone from school a lot lately, and I don't want you to fail the test again. It's next week, you need to prepare, alright?"

I smiled. My heart warmed at seeing his concern. "Of course, Iruka-sensei! Thank you!"

I followed him back into the classroom, took my regular seat next to Kiba, and listened to his lesson on how we could improve ourselves. He had memorized every single one of our fights, imprinting it on his mind so that he could remember exactly what every single one of his students needed to work on. Exactly why he was so fit to be an Academy teacher; he cared for all his students extensively and equally, helping them whenever possible and giving them input in anything, so long as it was going to help them improve.

School ended with nothing else worth mentioning, and I strolled outside, my classmates rushing past me to greet their parents. It still ached, seeing those parents picking up their own kids my age so happily and nonchalantly, everybody taking them for granted. I felt empathy towards Sasuke, whose family was now gone, torn away from him by his older brother, no less.

My lips twisted in amusement as a bunch of girls cheerily waved to him and tried to give him a hug as they left, which he did not appreciate. He ducked under their flailing arms, gave me a helpless glance—huh?—and ran off, his speed allowing him to escape. I lazily wandered after him, but a specific building caught my eye. Oh yeah, I hadn't visited them yet…oops…I'd need to visit my teammates before I went and continued a job I hadn't even signed up for. Hm. Did that sound bitter?

Inside the hospital, I went up to the front desk, and opened my mouth to ask the receptionist where Hatake Kakashi and the rest of my team were. The woman gave me a quick, disgusted look before smoothing over her face and giving me a bland expression, and I wrinkled my forehead before realizing, yet again, that I was Naruto, the stupid, cheerful little boy. Ugh. Taking the Nara's line…how bothersome.

By the time I went back, removed the jumpsuit to reveal my ANBU clothes underneath, put on my fixed fox mask which I had received sealed inside a scroll from a messenger, and traveled to the hospital under the disguise as ANBU commander—er, no, I _am _the ANBU commander, I told myself, I just have separate identities—five minutes had passed. Why did this simple little thing take so long?

At the front desk, I handed her a couple photos of my team, and after she looked at them, trying to place a face to a name, she opened her mouth in surprise and furiously searched through the book of patients that they updated daily.

"They're in rooms 401, 402, and 403," she gave me a nervous smile, and I had to keep from bursting out laughing. Just changing my outfit and a bit of physical features, of all things, I could go from ridiculed and disgusted to feared and respected. How absurd.

I nodded at her, took back my hard-earned photos, and set in that direction. Only as I was wandering the hallways looking for the right door did I realize that I could've made a henge instead of changing. I kept myself from groaning aloud, as that would've attracted the unnecessary attention of the medic nin bustling everywhere. Or, even better, I could've just searched for their chakra signatures amongst all the rest, as I could identify them easily, and just entered through their window from outside. …Maybe I really was going crazy from sleep deprivation.

Shaking my head, I found the right door in a few more moments, and entered quietly, first trying to quell my irrational fear that Hikigaeru and Neko, or even Boar, had died. Of course they hadn't. And they wouldn't, as long as they remained on my team. I'd never allow that to happen, so long as I was their captain.

Stepping inside room 401, I noticed Neko and Hikigaeru were already awake, talking quietly to someone sitting next to them. Oh—it was Boar, and Inu suddenly came in behind me, holding a glass of water and startled to see someone right in front of the door.

"Hey, Inu," I greeted, and he smiled under his mask, indicated by the fabric shifting around and his eye crinkling upward.

"No need to be so formal," he commented, subtly pointing out to me that we could call each other by name and not code name—at least I could, he didn't know me as Naruto—and I shrugged.

"Thank you, Kitsune," a woman's voice said behind me, and I turned, noticing Hikigaeru giving me a wan smile.

"I would've died, all of us would've died, if you hadn't risked your life for us there; we're ANBU, we should be better…but yet again, you dragged our butts back home with every bit of strength you had left. Again. And so…I don't want to keep making you do that, and I don't want to be in those types of situations anymore. Not your fault of course; don't ever think it is. You need subordinates that are closer to your age, people that can be more agile. And, uh…most of us have decided to quit. I'm sorry, but I really wanted to thank you again before…well, you know."

It was silent, the atmosphere going from sad and contemplative to bordering on awkward.

"Umm...you know, I _really _would've liked you to have thanked me and that's it," I said with a chuckle, "You guys know you can quit anytime you want. No need for that long of a soliloquy."

Hikigaeru—or should I call her Natsuki?—blushed, but gestured at Boar to say whatever he wanted to say.

"Okay," he started uncomfortably, "I'm not quitting, just to let you know. But I'm going on…hiatus, you could say. So I'm not going to be an active ANBU for a while, until I come back from travelling."

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Travelling? Where?"

He shrugged. "Oh, you know, just going around to all the different countries, and learning different shinobi techniques and such, so that I might be able to understand how to counter an enemy's different technique, if that should happen in the future. So, just to be more knowledgeable."

I nodded. "Good idea," I said, and he relaxed, as if he needed my permission to do this. Ha, thirty-something year olds, asking permission to do something from a twelve year old. I wanted to laugh again at the irony. My life was just full of ironic situations, wasn't it?

Kakashi was, of course, 26, the youngest of our team except for me, so I wondered why he actually _wanted _to quit. I voiced my thoughts, and he straightened from his slouch automatically, hearing the authoritative tone in my voice. I cringed. I really needed to fix that.

"Hmm…the Hokage's been telling me to quit, as have you. Apparently it's ruining me, you both say, although I could say the same for you, Kitsune. You're even more of a kid. You shouldn't have to be a killer. But anyway, I was suggested to become a jounin sensei, and I thought, sure why not try it? So…that's what I'm doing, I guess," he ended lamely, but I could tell he was nervous about it. He had been in ANBU since his teens, and suddenly changing his lifestyle like this…I knew he was slightly worried.

"Don't worry, you'll do great," I grinned at him, even though they wouldn't be able to see behind my cloth mask, and he scoffed. I was pretty sure he appreciated it, though. Maybe.

"Well then, Cat—er, Youko, what're you planning? A jounin sensei, like Kakashi?"

She nodded. "I don't really think I'd be able to continue as ANBU. As you've told me many times, I don't watch my back often enough—and I'm just too old, as Hikigaeru said we all kind of were. I'm nearing 40, you know," she said with an embarrassed laugh, "And continuing to live this harsh lifestyle isn't my kind of thing. I'm going to be an Academy teacher though, not a jounin one."

We chatted about any random thing after that, and there was a loud cheer from Neko, Boar, and Hikigaeru when it came up I was ANBU commander. Kakashi just smirked. As far as I could tell, anyway. He had his mask on everywhere. I'd only seen his face once, and although it was weird to say so, I thought he would be considered one of those "really cute guys," or "super handsome," or whatever. It was probably a family thing though, as he'd said once that the Hatake clan was made up of silver-haired, mask-wearing shinobi; I didn't pry after that. I only wore one underneath my ANBU mask so that if my henge ever dropped my gray-eyes-pale-skin-and-dark-hair look, at least the whisker-like marks wouldn't be visible, even if the blond hair and blue eyes would totally give it away anyway.

The nurses shooed me and Kakashi out a little while later, so I _shunshined_ to the ANBU Headquarters out the window, and received reports from many of the lower ANBU who had returned from missions, going over them and filing them into the correct folders. It was monotonous work, but we were already behind, so I couldn't push it aside any more than I already had.

A knock sounded on the door, and I called, "Enter," in as professional of a voice I could manage. The person who had knocked stepped in. It was another ANBU returning from a mission, with blood coating his hair and clothes, adding to the already-very-metallic smell in the room. Sandaime could only go over the truly important missions from higher-ranking ANBU, after all. The rest would report to me, and I would summarize or give the Hokage the most important pieces of information. He handed me his report, and outlined other small details he missed, then bowed and left after I dismissed him. This occurred two more times, and by then it was 10:30 pm—so I decided to go on my mission. To capture and then kill Mizuki-sensei.

…

I followed him home, having already found he always left the school around 10:45 pm, and pretended to stop at a couple stores while all the time making sure that I knew where he was, and once sensing his chakra signature was getting too far away, I would follow closer again, while all the time still masking my chakra. No matter how careless my opponent was, I could never underestimate them. Kakashi, who had been one of my teachers in the beginning, had told me again and again:

_A careless shinobi is a dead shinobi. Never underestimate your opponents. _

It was a good lesson, which was why, in any task, I never showed swaggering confidence. That was the most careless thing I could ever attempt. No, I knew my skills very well, and I took care to go to the extremes of not having Mizuki notice me following him, and followed him all the way home, where I waited outside for hours in the dark and scrunched up underneath those terribly thorny bushes, waiting for him to fall asleep. At around midnight, I crept up the walls outside the apartment without chakra, using the windowsills and other sections of the building to hoist myself up. I couldn't let him detect my chakra, after all. Again, I couldn't underestimate my opponents.

The window was easily unlocked when I used a little wind to slide underneath the crack and push the lock, and it curled in my palm like a small kitten, waiting for my command. I smoothed on a silencing seal, pushed up the window, and clambered in silently. My gloved hand closed the window just as silently, and I masked my chakra, held my breath, and used chakra to lighten any footsteps I made. As long as my chakra was directed towards myself and not outwards, it wouldn't usually be sensed. With a couple quick hand signs, the man was bound with stone, gagged, blindfolded and tossed over my shoulder. With a _shunshin, _I traveled to the Interrogation Department, where I tossed him in a chair and he struggled off of it and onto the floor, still writhing when I finished my call and Ibiki came strolling in.

"Kitsune-san," he nodded at me, and I nodded back. "Ibiki-san."

Muscled, corded arms reached down and pried away the blindfold, allowing my chuunin instructor to have his vision restored again. His eyes widened.

"You will cooperate with us, or else you will be tortured."

The night was dark, crickets were singing, and the entrance hall of the Torture and Investigation Department building was silent. Mizuki's eyes were wide, and he made a slow, torturous nod that indicated Kitsune could release his stone bonds, as well as the gag. The man's hands and feet unfroze and he leapt to his feet, already running when he propelled himself into a small, unmoving palm. The ANBU commander's mask mocked him, and he snarled, but Ibiki had already wrapped two muscular arms around the instructor's shoulders and pushed the pale man's wrists together, allowing Kitsune to snap heavy cuffs over them. The black metal glinted.

…

"How did you meet Orochimaru? Why did he tell you about this potion that you have been planning to make?"

The young, white-haired man gritted his teeth. "I was on a mission."

"Oh? And what sort of mission were you on?" Ibiki leaned in close while Kitsune hung back, allowed to stay and watch simply because of his high rank.

Mizuki was flat on his back, drips of water having been plunked on his forehead again and again, for hours, until he started screaming and shouting, twitching but unable to move his head. Ibiki had stopped the torture, since Mizuki had been unwilling to speak at first but now appeared to be weaker.

"I…went with my team to retrieve something. I forget what. Orochimaru came up to me because I killed my injured teammate."

Ah, so now he was finally admitting it.

"Orochimaru praised me. He said I was strong. He said I could help him, if I'd like to, and he said I could become stronger. I took the offer. It was a recipe for strength. A strength beyond any normal strength, a strength only for the determined, a strength—"

"That's enough."

"—that would allow me to soar above all my companions and beat them into the ground with ease thatwouldallowmethatwouldhelpmethatwouldmakemestronger, stronger, stronger—"

"Quiet!"

Ibiki allowed a steady drop of water to ping off the delirious Mizuki's forehead again, and he started screaming almost immediately. The torturer stopped. Mizuki also stopped.

He then turned to me, and nodded. "I suppose that we have gathered enough information. We must watch for Orochimaru; he may have only played around with Mizuki, but he must have other plans for Konoha to risk traveling so close and going so far as to contact a Leaf-nin—albeit a, at the time, possibly traitorous Leaf-nin."

He shook his head. "I'll be taking my leave now," he said, and nodded respectfully as he brushed past and out of the torture rooms.

"Mizuki," I murmured, and he glanced at me, eyes slightly clearer now. His delirium from the torturous water—apparently it felt like a sledgehammer was slamming into your head if it continued for too long—was starting to fade, and a guarded look again came up as he salvaged what pride he could find, staring into my eyes as best as possible, given I was wearing an ANBU mask.

I released my henge, took off my porcelain _and_ cloth mask, and in those moments, he found out Uzumaki Naruto's true identity. Or maybe the other way around; he found the new ANBU commander's true identity. Either way, he was surprised to say the least, and he stared, mouth open.

A kunai whipped across the tender flesh of his throat, and sickly red liquid spurted out. "How…how could _you _ever…"

He choked, and then the last breath he would ever take left his throat in a whisper. He was dead. I wiped my kunai on his clothing, and then called for a lower-ranking shinobi with a convenient little button at the front of the door. Mission complete.

…

**Yes. Mission accomplished. I have stopped the chapter at a mostly-kind-of-not-really suspenseful point in the story. This is a **_**way **_**longer chapter than usual, and I hope it won't be like that in the future. Otherwise, it'll take me **_**weeks **_**to update. **

**Thanks for reading, and please review! No flames. **

**~paracuties**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi. I'm back. Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long. On a brighter note, thank you to everybody who's reviewed! It means a lot—and I actually mean that. I love reading them. Makes me feel strangely giddy. **

**This chapter's kind of short and probably slightly boring, since it's kind of an in-between sort of thing. There's not too much action, and the bit of action in there isn't really very well-written. I can't write action scenes, you see. I like to say I'm improving though. **

**So. Thank you to all who followed and favorited, and special thanks to reviewers! You guys are awesome!**

**Enjoy.**

**4/21/14 Update: I realized I needed to change something. So I'm re-uploading it and changing the ANBU commander's cause of death because only now did I figure out where I'm going with this whole story. **

…

I yawned. Five am. After quickly taking a shower and throwing on my ANBU outfit, I ate some slightly burnt eggs, drank two cups of milk, and settled into my seat in Headquarters. After filing away a bunch of junk—er, reports—on my desk, I received information on the previous commander's death. His heart had been destroyed by a medical technique called the chakra scalpel. How had _that_ been possible? I had them find out where he had been the previous night, who had come into contact with him anytime and day, all the while suspiciously wondering if one of them, or any of the ANBU for that matter, could be the culprit. I was pretty sure they were wondering the same about me—if they weren't guilty. I rested my cheek on my hand and sighed. This was pretty much what I had expected; a bunch of busywork and paperwork waiting for me day after day.

The routine of receiving and filing away mission reports ate away at me until I was dying of boredom at 7:20, so much so that I quickly hurried to school twenty five minutes beforehand.

Iruka looked at me strangely as I walked in, and I looked down at what I was wearing. No, I had not accidentally walked in with only my ANBU clothing. No, my tattoo was not visible. It had been altered, too, to allow me to call ANBU at my whim—responsibly, of course—so it was even more prominent, but that wasn't it. He was probably wondering why I was so early _again, _as did Sasuke and Shino. Even Sakura, the pink-haired little fangirl, wasn't here yet.

I smiled cheekily at him, dissipating his worries and any suspicions about anything, then sat next to Sasuke, obnoxiously chattering loudly about ramen, then the spar we had yesterday, and then about the upcoming graduation exam. He looked supremely bored and annoyed and pained at the same time that I took it as a sign of improvement. At least he was showing some emotion…

Class started, and the rest of the week whirled by until it was Tuesday, the day of our graduation exams.

The day started out slightly gray and overcast, but I sucked out the water from the clouds into a huge sphere of rain and poured it into the ground, doing that until the clouds lightened a little, not as full of water anymore. Ha. There. I just temporarily beat nature, even though there was now a small lake randomly in the middle of the forest.

I triumphantly sauntered to the Academy, putting up the boisterous and boastful façade until it was my turn. I knew Sasuke would graduate this year—I had been studying his skills year after year, and I knew he was good enough to pass by now—so I had no qualms about finally passing the exam. I didn't have to pretend to fail myself anymore! Yes!

Without Mizuki there to help, Iruka had his hands full, and didn't pay much attention to the fact that with little to no effort I passed the written exam, along with the taijutsu spars and ninjutsu demonstrations; just the basic ones. Those that thought they may end up with too-low scores to pass could also show Iruka their genjutsu skills if they had any, which could possibly earn them points if the genjutsu was stable and working, and maybe allow them to pass—as long as the rest of their skills weren't _too _terrible, of course. We all, to the relief of many, passed, and my classmates brandished their new hitai-ates proudly, so I imitated their behavior. Sasuke appeared bored, as if he was expecting to pass—which I suppose he was, but couldn't the guy at least smile? I decided to make him, after shoving through all the fangirls crowding around him.

"Hey, Sasuke! Ha, see? I passed! You said I wouldn't, and called me a dobe, but I'm not, and I passed. So there!" I tapped my shiny hitai-ate proudly. I'd be returning it to the Hokage later, seeing as how I already had one—since I was five, I might add—but for now, this was the one I had earned with my identity of simple little Uzumaki Naruto, so I'd be wearing it.

"Hn."

"What, you aren't happy you passed? You'd rather have failed?"

He gave me a sideways look that seemed to say, Of course not, dobe, what are you thinking? The answer he gave wasn't that, though.

"Hn."

"Say something other than 'hn' or I'm going to keep bothering you!"

"Shut up, dobe."

"!"

He smirked. I left in a huff, inwardly smiling. I was getting really good at this.

After that, I chatted a little with Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru, and the day ended with my usual visit to the office, filing reports and making sure that there wasn't anything weird any of the ANBU had found. My dinner consisted of three large slices of bread and a quarter of a jar of peanut butter, along with a couple tomatoes to balance it all out, and then I went to rest. Tomorrow we'd be assigned our genin teams, and take the test our sensei assigned us. I wondered who my sensei would be…

...

"Good morning, everyone," Iruka said happily, looking at all of us with pride. I think he gave me an especially big smile. I grinned back.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei," everybody chorused. Many of them had wanted to know what had happened to Mizuki-sensei, as we usually said, "Good morning, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei," but Iruka had just said Mizuki had caught a really bad sickness, and wouldn't be back for the rest of the school year. We'd be gone after that, so there was no need to worry about any of us finding out it was a lie.

…Well, except for me of course, since I had been the one to personally kill him, but I had also jumped in when everybody asked questions, so it wasn't like I was suspicious. And besides, it was my job! My duty to Konoha to kill him!

Mizuki had not been taken to the jail we often put traitorous shinobi and kunoichi into—they simply wasted Konoha's time and resources and had about 0.01% chance of repenting. Most of them simply sat and seethed in anger, plotting out Konoha's demise while rotting away in jail. It wasn't worth it to keep any traitors around. After realizing my mind was drifting again, I yanked my attention back to Iruka-sensei.

"The teams will be made up of three people, based on your strengths and weaknesses. So, Team 1 will be…"

"Then, Team 7 will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

"YEESSS!" Sakura screeched, then jabbed a finger in the direction of Yamanaka Ino and said smugly, "Ha! Take that, Ino!"

I pretended to groan and glare at Sasuke. Inside though, I was practically screaming with happiness. Well, with as much happiness that you can feel when you think you mission is going to get easier. As Haruno and Yamanaka competed for dominance in their screaming match, I wondered how I could've ever pretended to have a crush on Sakura for as long as I did. I had decided, when I first entered the Academy, to pretend I had a crush on someone just to seem all the more like a little kid, and I had continued my "crush" on Sakura all the way until the middle of last year, when enough was enough. Seriously. It was way too tiring trying to act like you liked someone and purposely humiliating yourself to continue your act—and then have said someone smack you on the head and make lovey-dovey eyes at the rookie of the year. Uchiha, of course.

Iruka tore Ino and Sakura apart, and they sat down with a huff, looking contrite and meekly nodding their heads after Iruka gave a short lecture on respect. He continued reading the list.

"Team 8 will consist of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata."

The only complaint was from Kiba, who pretty much boasted or complained his way through life, I had figured. He was, otherwise, a good guy though. I realized they were a tracking team.

"Last team, Team 10, will consist of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji, led by Asuma-sensei."

Iruka paused. "Oh, right, Team 8's sensei will be led by Yuuhi Kurenai; Team 7 will be led by Kakashi-sensei, Team 6…"

Huh. Kakashi-sensei. Why did that sound—_oh_. _Ohhh_. Oh, man. Well. Did not expect that. I managed to keep my composure though, and asked eagerly, "Who's that? What does he look like? Is he super cool and awesome, or weird and—"

"Naruto, keep your mouth shut for just a moment."

I sat down, acting annoyed, while inside I was threatening my snickering classmates that I would kill them if they laughed at me again. Not literally, of course. God knows it could be quite literal, quite easily.

He sighed. "You'll see once he gets here, Naruto; he can introduce himself then."

I harrumphed, crossed my arms, and stuck my tongue out at him. God, this was so fun. Too bad the other, trained and professional ANBU side of me felt completely bored and annoyed at having to play such a role.

Yuuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma—I had talked to that guy once, seeing as how he was the Hokage's son and all, and man, did he get sullen and childish when around his father—stepped into the classroom, calling out their team numbers and having their respective students follow them out. I knew Kakashi was going to be hours late, so I decided to pull out a couple of reports I had stuffed into my backpack. They were written in code, so it wouldn't be too much trouble if Sasuke or Sakura got curious. I read through them, decoding it quickly, then put them in specific folders I had set up so I could quickly put them into the right file at my office. Sasuke pretended to be wandering around the room, but I noticed his discreet glances at my papers as he passed behind me, and I finally turned around, sighed, and asked him, "You need something?"

He gave me a startled glance, and then turned away.

"Hn."

Sakura came up too, not even bothering to pretend she wasn't looking at them, and read, "The three big birds flew east, while the four smaller birds flew southeast, then curved towards east and met at their nests. They all greeted each other happily, and—"

She stopped. "What the heck are you doing, Naruto? Why are you reading some weird paper on birds?"

Even Uchiha looked confused, so I sighed inwardly, glad they hadn't caught on. If they did, then…well, first of all, that meant they were kind of talented, and second of all, there'd be a lot of quick, valid excuses thought up on the fly. Which I really didn't feel up to doing.

The minutes ticked by, and I finished with the reports. After looking out the door and into the hallway multiple times—earning a reproach from Haruno—an idea suddenly popped into my head.

I lugged a stool over, then stood on top of it and wedged a blackboard eraser between the slidable door and the doorframe.

"Wait a second, Naruto. What are you doing?"

I cackled evilly.

Sakura scowled at me.

"Hey!"

"It'll be his fault because he's late," I admonished her, hopping off the stool.

"You're really asking for it," Sakura warned me. Sasuke told me haughtily that a jounin wouldn't fall prey to such a simple prank, and Sakura immediately agreed, while simultaneously calling me an idiot. I could tell she wanted to join in though; by the way she sometimes stood on tiptoe and peered out the sliver of open doorway, glancing at the eraser with a light in her eyes, her fingers curling in excitement. What a…well, to simply put it, a ditz. She didn't even say what she wanted to say or do because she was afraid that would make a boy, a mere _classmate_, like her less. I scoffed.

Thankfully, the door decided to slide open at that time, and I watched, fascinated, as Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja and the son of the White Fang, really did "fall prey to such a simple prank." The blackboard eraser fell without the door stabilizing it, and with a clunk, dropped on Kakashi's head. Dust flew into the air, and he paused, one foot inside the classroom. I burst out laughing, grinning at him. He had his usual "mysterious" air about him, but I had gotten used to reading him, and he was definitely annoyed. Sakura quickly tried apologizing, putting all the blame on me, but I noticed a twinkle of satisfaction in her eyes. I noticed Sasuke staring at him with narrowed eyes, and I could tell he doubted the authenticity of Kakashi's skill. Kakashi stared at the blackboard eraser in his hand, then put his other hand on his chin and seemed to be thinking very deeply.

"Hmm, how do I put this?"

Then, he stared at us, and said, "My first impression of you three…well, I hate you."

Way to be blunt, Kakashi.

"Meet me on the roof of the school building, and we'll introduce ourselves."

…

We sat on the steps, Kakashi facing us while leaning on the railing. He had us introduce ourselves, and we did, I making myself seem like a delusional, ramen-loving kid, Sakura making it obvious she lived only for Sasuke as a fangirl, and Sasuke establishing his arrogance and vengeance. Man, that really needed to be worked on.

By the end of it, all we had learned from Kakashi was his name, as he said, "Me? My name's Kakashi Hatake. I don't feel like telling you guys about my likes and dislikes. I've never really thought about my dream future…As for my hobbies, I have many."

Sakura had said with a very disgruntled face, "In the end, isn't all we know about him his name?"

Unfortunately, his turn was over, so we had given basic summaries of ourselves, as I had stated earlier. After that little part, he told us we would be receiving a mission tomorrow. I had acted very eager and anticipatory, but after he revealed it was a survival exercise, Sakura and I frowned, confused. At least, she was. And I'm sure that the Uchiha was too, deep down. Very, very deep down, but there, nonetheless.

"Of the 27 graduates…only nine will become actual genin shinobi. The remaining eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this is a survival exercise with a failure rate of 66% or higher!"

Well, after that bomb was dropped, there was a stunned, shocked silence, and he told us, "We meet at five in the morning.

"Well, you're dismissed! Oh…and you'd best skip breakfast. You'll throw up otherwise."

…

**Not the best ending. But I didn't want to add more to it, or else it'd add, like, eight more word doc pages. And I really didn't want to drag a chapter out that long. **

**Please review! I'd like some constructive criticism! (I sincerely hope you all realize that I'd be happy if there were no flames.)**

**Update: Oh, and you might've noticed I edited and revised it a bit this time around. A cookie to all who actually went back and read through the entire chapter again. **

**~paracuties**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, I'm back! Yes, the update took me a while to upload. But you may have noticed that I edited chapter three a bit. All I changed was the ANBU commander's death and did a little editing and revising; you should at least check the change in cause of death since that's going to be important later on. Slightly. **

**Huge thank you to reviewers, favoriters, and followers. You guys are multiplying! I'm so happy! XD And also, if I didn't respond to your review by way of a PM, I'm sorry about that! Whenever I first upload the latest chapter, my inbox, when reviews come all in a row, will for some reason group them together in one email. I didn't understand the "(5)" next to the topic name at first, but then, well. I noticed them when I was lazily scrolling around. I still may have missed some, though, so, again, sorry!**

**Disclaimer (you may notice I do these very sporadically and randomly): I do not own Naruto. Not the anime, the manga, the games, nor the posters and whatnot that people can actually legally own of Naruto…**

**Enjoy reading!**

…

Sakura shouted at me as I slowly ambled over to them at around 9:30 a.m.

"What are you doing, coming so late?! And why isn't Kakashi-sensei here?"

I made a face. "How would I know that? And anyway, I thought that if he was hours late yesterday, he'd be super late today too, so I took my time eating breakfast."

She spluttered. Sasuke also looked at me, frowning as he wondered why I had decided to throw up later on.

"Haha, you guys are _so_ stupid. I mean, who doesn't eat when they're preparing for a mission? We'll need our energy later on."

They both paused, looking slightly embarrassed—Sakura—or annoyed they hadn't realized that—Sasuke.

I pulled out a scroll from my scroll pouch, checked if it was the right one—we couldn't have a bunch of shiny, deadly weapons only reserved for jounin or ANBU suddenly pop out—and bit my thumb, spreading a thin trail of blood on the inked paper and allowing fresh-baked loaves of bread, some rice and bean buns, and assorted fruit appear out of the smoke. They stared at it hungrily.

"Go ahead and eat, I seriously think you should," I offered graciously, biting into a pear myself.

They both ate their breakfast after that, and I had just cleaned up everything when Kakashi appeared.

"Hey, guys. Good morning."

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and I screamed at him, our fingers pointing furiously at our sensei.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path, you see," he offered, and then cleared his throat when met with blank stares and you've-got-to-be-kidding-me looks.

He paused. "Is that breakfast I smell on your breaths?"

"Uh..."

"Hmph." He turned his nose up dramatically. "Fine. See if I care when you throw all that food up later. How attractive _that_ will be..."

Sakura had a pinched look on her face.

Kakashi explained the test, setting the timer for 12:00, and saying our objective was to attain the two bells he was currently holding, which he tied onto his belt. If we couldn't get the bells by then, he'd tie us to three wooden logs—he pointed at them—and eat our lunch happily right in front of us. Only then did the other two realize that was why he had had us not eat breakfast…

"But wait a second. Why are there only two bells?"

Sakura's sharp mind caught onto that right away, so with a gleeful expression—at least, as gleeful as he could look with only a three-square inch area of his face visible—he told us at the most, only one person would be tied to the log, and two people would pass. That person unfortunately tied to the log would be sent back to the Academy. However, if we were still unable to snatch a bell from him by noon, then all three of us would fail.

So he was trying to split us up…this was probably about teamwork. He had drilled into my head the first time we met, which was when I was six and starting my career as a shinobi:

_Those who break the rules and regulations are regarded as trash, but those that abandon their comrades instead are even worse than trash. _

It was stuck in my head even years later, and I had integrated good teamwork into my team of ANBU as a result. Kakashi had been quite happy with me. I smirked. I knew his objective; now all I had to do was get Sakura and Sasuke to work with me. Kakashi attached the two bells back on.

"You can use your weapons. You won't be able to take the bells unless you come with the intent to kill me."

"But that's dangerous, sensei!" Sakura protested, looking apprehensive.

I agreed, chuckling to cover up my "nervousness", and said, "Yeah, you couldn't even evade a chalkboard eraser!"

"In the shinobi world, those who aren't skilled enough tend to complain more. Well, I'll just ignore the loser…," Kakashi said in a bored tone, effectively drawing out the "three" of us.

"Begin when I give you the signal."

He had barely finished his sentence when I rushed forward, a kunai spinning on my finger and then clenched in my fist as I stabbed at him messily head-on. I needed to establish my recklessness and never-thinking-before-doing-ness as Naruto. Obviously, Kakashi just grabbed my wrist, set a hand on the back of my head, and yanked the sharp away from him and towards my own bare neck from behind, startling my other two teammates.

I was released a moment later, and I backed up, grinning inwardly. He just had to show off.

A little speech later, "Ready…start!"

…

My stupidity established from the start, I allowed Kakashi to catch me in trap after trap, attempting again and again to face off with him without hiding and following the basic shinobi rules. I could see the how-did-this-guy-even-pass look in his eyes clearly even from here, forty feet away. I finally decided to duck into the bushes, and allowed him to evaluate Sasuke's skills. Both of us appraised his talent with fire jutsu, and I nodded in acknowledgement at his speed. Eventually, Sasuke was buried in the ground up to his neck, and Sakura was caught in Kakashi's genjutsu. I released them both, all of us crouching behind bushes in a small clearing and the two of them waiting for me to say something. Since I had freed them from their traps, there was an obvious expectation that I wanted something.

"What are you doing, dobe?"

I shushed him. "I think we should all work together to get the bells from him. Three genin working together should be able to defeat a jounin, right?"

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"There's only two bells, so after you take one, who'll get the other bell? Sakura, or me?"

I shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it; you already know you can't defeat him by yourself. So we have to work together to get the bells in the first place."

They thought for a while, and then both of them nodded slowly. I cleared my throat.

"So, what we're going to do is, Sakura, you're going to cast a genjutsu on him. You're good at those, right?"

She nodded, blushing slightly at the indirect compliment, and I turned to Sasuke.

"I can distract him with my Kage Bunshin and you can combat him with fire jutsu so Sakura can grab the bells while he's distracted with both of us. That's what the genjutsu is for: so he won't notice you coming for the bells."

They both nodded automatically, but then Sasuke frowned, wondering why he had responded so easily to that authoritative tone from Naruto, of all people, and muttered, "Who went and made you leader?"

He sped off after that though, not allowing me to reply and having me assume he was putting the plan in motion. I shrugged, then reminded Sakura to settle the genjutsu on Kakashi after we had distracted him, and created my trustworthy Kage Bunshin—so, yeah, I shouldn't know the technique as a genin, but he could assume I'd learned it from the Sandaime—and if he didn't, and instead asked the Hokage about it, the Hokage could still spin up some tale of teaching the technique to me anyway.

My teammates charged forward while I waited in the bushes. If I had to, I'd cast a quick, hard genjutsu and grab the bells myself. Then I'd cast a genjutsu on everyone else so they would think Sakura grabbed the bells from Kakashi, when I really just handed it to her. No one would know, and then Kakashi would have to pass us because we had worked together to the best of our abilities and even obtained our goal. That was an awesometerrible plan.

My clones disoriented him, "accidentally" happening to bend down or trip really fast when he tried to stab them, which allowed the kunai to pass over them and then happening to simply jump all over the place and not receive a single hit from Kakashi. Sasuke blew his fireballs, which served to distract Kakashi further since he couldn't burrow under the ground when my clones were hanging onto him, and he had to dodge, unable to get a good chance to _Kawarimi_. I snickered. The light genjutsu had set in place by now, and Sakura darted forward, her hand outstretched. She yanked on the two bells…and they disappeared with a poof, along with Kakashi, leaving my clones to tumble all over each other.

I sighed, dispelled them, and the three of us grouped together in the bushes again.

"Good job, Sakura, you were still able to grab the bells," I tried to encourage the girl, but she frowned and shook her head.

"I didn't even do anything! All I did was make a crappy genjutsu on a clone."

Sasuke bit out, "Come on, we don't have the time for this. Let's think of another plan."

I nodded with approval. Sasuke was finally referring to the three of us as a group. This time, our plan was to have Sakura set up an illusion of all three of us attacking. Meanwhile, inside the genjutsu, "I" would grab hold of him and Kakashi would stand still, allowing Sasuke and my clone charge him in real life and the actual me turned into a senbon needle. Hopefully, Kakashi wouldn't be able to differentiate between the genjutsu me's and the real clone me's. At least for a second.

Sasuke would maneuver the senbon needle—me—onto Kakashi's clothing, and I'd burst into existence and hopefully not have to tear a large hole in Kakashi's flak jacket—which the needle would be stuck into—while doing this. It usually didn't work that way…and after bursting into existence, I'd grab the bells and make a run for it. That was the most basic-but-hopefully-still-functional plan I could come up with, at least. We could only hope for it to work.

The genjutsu set in heavily. I and Sasuke rushed in together, as Sasuke was holding me in senbon needle form. My clones and the people Sakura created from her genjutsu were currently rushing him from behind, in front, left, right, and most of all, above, with some of them henged into Sasuke or Sakura, and others _henged_ into animals. That could serve to confuse Kakashi for a little longer, and cause him to think my clones _henged_ into animals were part of the genjutsu. Sasuke darted forward, sprinting around Kakashi and then jumping up and sailing over the man, throwing me still in needle form onto Kakashi and latching me in the middle of his back. I waited a moment, waiting until he was mostly still to poof into existence, and immediately reached for the bells. I could see the victory, right in front of my eyes—but I could also sense Kakashi realizing this and ready to turn. In a burst of unnatural speed for a genin, I yanked the two silver bells off his belt, the metal cool in my clenched palm as I escaped into the surrounding forest.

Hopefully, he wouldn't realize that trip-up.

…Yeah, right. He'd definitely be questioning me later. Before I could start formulating any excuses in my head, Sakura ambushed me, jumping in front of me and asking me excitedly if I had gotten the bells. I confirmed it, smiling widely, while inside I was still worried about the situation with Kakashi. Sasuke also demanded to see the bells, for once actually showing intense emotion, and I dangled them in front of his eyes. He paused, realizing, yet again, that there were only two.

"Well? Who's going to be sent back to the Academy?"

A foreign voice appeared from behind all of us. I calmly ripped apart the two bells and was about to hand them to Sasuke and Sakura when Sakura jumped forward, grabbing one and shoving it into Sasuke's hand.

"Sensei, it'll be me. Because I didn't do much. All I did was cast genjutsu, while Sasuke and Naruto did all the work."

Sasuke stared at her openly, then shook his head and placed the bell into her open palm he was gripping.

"No, I actually did the least. All I did was throw Naruto in senbon needle form, and that was all that was needed for the plan."

"Guys, guys, seriously, I'm okay with being sent back to the Academy. Sasuke, don't you have a goal? And Sakura, you wouldn't want to take an entire year of the Academy again, would you? You both have the bells, and I'll fail. I'll just find another way to pass."

Kakashi laughed. A small chuckle at first, then all out guffawing at the end.

"You all…PASS!"

"W-what?"

"Why?"

"You just said only two of us would pass!"

He giggled some more, before gathering himself and explaining.

"This was a test to see if you would work together instead of selfishly doing things for yourself. In the shinobi world, you might have to work with allies you don't like—but you still have to work together, and be good at it to defeat the enemy. You all did wonderful; I'm surprised that you even thought of doing this. I was planning to, if you guys failed at this, tie one person to the log and have the other two eat their lunches, explicitly telling you guys weren't allowed to share your food. Of course, the point of that would be to get you guys to work as a team, even with terrible consequences. You three however…well, I guess you three are different."

He smiled. I cheered loudly, Sakura grinned happily, and even Sasuke smiled.

…

It had been relaxing to mess around with D rank missions for a while; catching Tora the cat reminded me of the times when I was four and trying to catch Miya the cat, and Sasuke and I had established some kind of rivalry between us—we constantly worked to get better than the other.

Our first conversation went something like this:

"Stop! Where do you even get that energy?!"

Sasuke was panting and demanding for a moment of rest, but I was still thrumming with energy as we sparred and Kakashi pushed Sakura to complete difficult, muscle-building exercises.

I shrugged.

"I don't know how your parents even deal—"

He stopped after I purposely stiffened. I had been trained to have no reaction, and after automatically stopping myself from reacting, I had to relax and allow myself to react normally.

The dark-haired boy didn't apologize, but I could tell he felt slightly guilty for saying that. We started up the spar and he skidded back again, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

I paused, then said, "How do you know all these techniques?"

His mouth flattened into a straight line. At first I thought he wasn't going to answer me, but then as our kunai shook against the other and we dropped our hands, he said quietly, "My clan. All the members of my clan taught me the shinobi arts. I have still retained them."

There was pride in that last sentence, and I ventured, "I have bad form, don't I?"

He scoffed.

"Hey, come on, emo Sasuke, teach me!"

He raised an eyebrow at that, and I shrugged. "Kakashi-sensei's definitely not helping."

I suppose he sympathized with that, as he shrugged and said, "Before Kakashi gets here, then. I'm not going to make extra time to teach a dobe like you."

I smirked viciously. "Oh, yeah? You still think I'm a dobe?! Then take this!"

I pounced at him, and he met the challenge. The team training ended after another couple of minutes, and we were dismissed, while I returned to my apartment and traveled out in a different identity, ready for a much higher-level mission.

However, the Hokage was now requesting me to request for a C rank as Uzumaki Naruto. Loudly. Brashly. With as much whining as possible. Seriously? I nodded though, because a respectful shinobi's duty was to take on any mission without any complaint. It wouldn't do to disrespect the Hokage. After bowing and being dismissed, I _shunshined_ away, returning to my apartment to change into a pair of cleaner, less bloody pair of clothes and topping it over with the regular orange jumpsuit.

Before dawn arrived, long before going to meet my team, I visited my office to work out something with the ANBU. The Hokage had found a couple of decent, recently-promoted jounin, and he was recommending them to take the tests to get into ANBU. The exercises were always different, but recently I had wanted to try something else—or at least add a new section to it. Some of the ex-Konoha ANBU usually proctored these tests, so I'd have to inform them of my idea. The whole process took hours, with papers filled with designs and information spread all over the table by the time I was finished. I yawned, tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. The ex-ANBU frowned. Probably didn't approve of me yawning, since I was the commander. Well, too bad. People yawned. Get over it, lady. She left, probably to inform the other ex-ANBU helping, and I'd come back from the mission just a couple of days before the tests began. At least, if it all went according to plan.

…

"Naruto! What took you so long?! Even Kakashi-sensei arrived on time today!" I winced at the loud, shrill sound, my headache only worsening from this.

"Calm down, Sakura, I'm here, aren't I? So there's no need to yell at me," I mumbled. Well, wasn't that a little out of character.

"Anyway! Are we getting another mission today? Come on, let's go!" I raced off towards the mission building, and they followed at a calmer pace. We arrived in the missions building, me striding in and earning a sharp, piercing gaze from the Hokage. I nodded subtly.

"Let's see…," the Hokage pretended to scan the list of D-rank missions.

"Oh! How about going to babysit the—"

"Aw, come on, Jiji! I don't want another D-rank mission!"

"Naruto! You idiot, don't you know that a genin like you can _only_ do D-rank missions?!" Iruka was the one who shouted this.

"Naruto-kun. There are different requests every day, ranging from babysitting to assassinations. They are placed into four different categories, based on their difficulty. A, B, C—"

I tuned the Hokage out, faced the other wall, and started pretending to plan my daily ramen meals. I rarely ate them all that much now, but when I did, they were pretty enjoyable. Ichiraku's was, of course, the best.

"Naruto! Are you even paying attention?!"

I complained some more, Jiji argued some more, and then:

"Fine."

Sakura and Sasuke looked up, surprised that I had won the ridiculous argument.

"You will be bodyguards for someone."

I excitedly asked who it was, and he called someone in. The man stumbled in, gulping down sake. A little drunk, but still stable enough to walk around normally.

"Hmph. Who's the little runt?"

Okay, so, obviously it was me. Sasuke and Sakura were taller. Kind of sucked, but at least my size meant I had more speed. I pretended to not understand though, laughing and asking who it was. My two teammates stepped closer, making it obvious I was shorter. I exploded, and Kakashi had to restrain me from attacking our client.

Well, mission complete. We had secured a C-rank mission.

…

**The ending's strangely similar to another chapter's ending. Eh. Whatevs, I can't bring myself to care right now. **

**I was going to end it at the end of the bell test, but then realized that'd be too short. So, hope you enjoyed the extra tidbit.**

**It's late, I haven't started my homework yet, and I've been getting five to six hours each night with no naps allowed in the afternoon, the naps part courtesy of my fanatical mother. You guys better appreciate this. **

**Review, please! (But no flames. Obviously.)**

**~paracuties**


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